ok, i'm back. played the first 3 levels and was impressed.
first, as far as the violence factor, you've really kept it pretty tame. i expected some blood, etc, but i'd call it "safe enough" afterall.
regarding the play itself:
1) i don't know if a child (4-6 yo) can muster the strength to mash the ctrl key as much as you have to. i'd like to be able to hold it down and repeat fire. minor complaint, just throwing the option out there. and, i was pretty much racing through the levels and expect a kid would go at a bit slower pace.
2) i suspect the collision is completely controlled with the game-maker? and, the AI? i just hate being attacked through walls, etc, by monsters i can't even see. seeing the monsters poking through walls, etc, is a bit of a turn-off for me as well.
re: design.
i would reconsider some of the design aspects. namely, lining up 2 (sometimes 3?) "items" in a row (with 1 (potentially) directly in front of the other). if you fire and destroy the "breakable" item (which is the furthest one) while passing through the "walk through" items, you can activate the ghosted animation sequences simultaneously and/or they are played in what could be perceived as in "reverse order". i know that's not always going to be possible if you want to have more than one "item" in the same direct area, but they could be placed more strategically with this in mind.
there was a spot where the camera was behind a wall. again, i expect this is being controlled by the game-maker, but it could be taken into consideration and minimalized when you design the levels. (the area was a "closet" situation. small 3-walled dead-end, if i remember correctly)
i experienced one "clipping" issue, i guess you call it. where you look in 1 direction and the area that was there a second ago disappears/is replaced by blackness/nothing. (see screenshot)
i don't know anything about the software you used for this and how much you can tweak it to "fix" some of the small things i've mentioned here. i will say that something like this could be re-produced in, say, Dark Basic Pro, and have the (slight) issues ironed out. i won't say "simply", because even the intermediate 3d games like this takes plenty of work. but you're doing nothing "fantastic" here/what would be considered seriously "advanced". just something to consider for the sequel
but, don't get me wrong. there's definite "quality" here. especially in the media. it's obvious that a lot of work went into this game. which reminds me... back to the "design" issue where the ghosted animations play on top of eachother/are obscured by something, etc. i feel the quality animations being played aren't given the attention they deserve here. i would rather have the game PAUSE when they are played (and the camera placed to ensure i can SEE the animation, which is an issue, at times), and for them to last a little longer. same for the spoken parts, too. some words were read (the sounds played) while i was passing through a second "item". well, you get it... can be confusing.
btw, 1/2 a gig install? ouch. could some media optimization be done?
overall, it's good stuff. please don't take anything i've said as "negative" (except the 1/2 gig install. hehe). my aim is to offer some thoughts that could elevate it further. constructive criticisms.
thanks for sharing!
edit:
Quote: "
It is ok to kill dinosaurs and other extinct animals"
dinosaurs and dragons are extinct? since when! j/k
Virtual Nomad
AMD XP 1800+ (~1.6 Ghz) / 1.5 GB RAM
ATI Radeon 8700LE 128 MB / Windows XP
